Satisfied Fascination
by Stargazer at Moonlight
Summary: Thundercracker finds himself in a bad position and gets help getting out, but needs a third. And one his second approves of. Thundercracker x Soundwave x Sunstreaker - Slash, violence, language, innuendo, etc. Rating up in later chapters  not posted
1. Chapter 1

_**Satisfied Fascination: Chapter One**_

_**Thundercracker x Soundwave x Sunstreaker**_

**Characters:** Sunstreaker, Skywarp, Starscream, Thundercracker, Sideswipe, Soundwave, Ravage, Hook, mentions of Megatron, Ratchet, Scrapper, Scavenger, and two unnamed OCs that play no real role

**Rating: **T for innuendo

**Words: **1486

**Summary: **Thundercracker finds himself in a bad position and gets help getting out, but needs a third - and one that his second approves of.

**Author's Notes: **Soundwave is OOC and I'm totally sorry if I mangled the way he speaks when his isn't OOC. Ravage is OOC and so is Hook. It's just how it panned out. Sorry if that offends anyone. I normally love the Trine together, but I just had to write it this way. My muses wouldn't let me do it any different. And just sayin, but TC is one of my favorites all around, so I feel kind of bad the way he's treated.

* * *

><p>Before the war, Sunstreaker had loved watching fliers – especially Seekers – for their beauty and grace. Now, though he still admired those qualities, he had to admit that he cursed them on a frequent basis for what they were responsible for. As he stood protectively between two of the Command Trine and his twin, he had to admit that they still looked stunning even though their expressions rather ruined their good looks.<p>

Of course, with only the two in front of him – though he was grateful that the one with the capacity to warp was in view – there was still one unaccounted for. He shot a few quick glances up to the sky, refusing to rise to the bait that came in the form of taunts thrown his way. Sunstreaker sighed gratefully as he finally pinpointed the third of the Trine's location as being across the battlefield. It appeared that he was attempting aerial acrobatics, though that was marred by the amount of laser fire being thrown his way.

The wail of an ambulance siren allowed him to relax marginally. Ratchet would soon be here to fix Sideswipe. He just had to vacate the area of Seekers. The two in front of him twitched violently and he took his chance, slingshotting forward and grabbing the warper by the vents, swinging him around into the Air Commander.

* * *

><p>Thundercracker heaved a sigh through his vents. The laser fire from the Autobots had scorched the leading edge of his right wing. Apparently his Trinemates had not blocked their bond and he had not had an effective enough one in place. Which all boiled down to one thing: he was blamed for the conditions of the other two Seekers and for the survival of the Twin Terrors. That was the current reason for his shorted energon rations, disrepair, lack of recharge, and extra duty cycles. One would think that he would be thanked for attracting most of the laser fire during the battle.<p>

He sighed again. At least the Constructicons were relatively grateful, though that had been in a roundabout way. Various data pads had been appearing just inside his room aboard the Nemesis containing book files on any number of topics. The only way to tell they were from the Constructicons was the inordinate amount of literature on architecture, something he still appreciated considering how rare it was to find something to read on the Decepticon base.

The door to the command center slid open to allow Soundwave entrance. "Thundercracker's presence: requested by Constructicons."

"Can you relay to them that I am unable to make it? Both Megatron and Starscream have given me extra shifts and cut my rations." He had found over time that the telepath was easy to talk to and a rather good friend. That was something that he wasn't about to tell anybot. Friends were not really allowed within the Decepticon ranks.

"Energon: here after your return. Soundwave: will watch monitors. Ravage: accompanies Thundercracker."

The blue Seeker grinned at the tape deck. "What is that going to say to the rest of the troops?"

"Response: Nothing. Decepticons: in recharge."

"Mmm. That works then." As the panther cassette padded up to him, he asked, "So, Ravage, have you played Sorry here lately?"

Soundwave grinned to see another Decepticon interacting with his cassettes. Most ignored them, but a few went out of their way to torment the much smaller bots. The blue jet had always been different from the others though, so it wasn't all that surprising that he respected the cassettes. That he actually enjoyed playing with the younglings and that they loved having him around was the surprising aspect.

Ravage rubbed up against the Seeker's turbines and told him telepathically that she had not. Thundercracker ginned happily.

"We'll just have to fix that then won't we? Monitor duty doesn't exactly hold anybot's attention for long as there isn't really anything to see. Of course, I just finished making Snakes and Ladders. So we can choose between Sorry, Snakes and Ladders, Clue, Cybertron-opoly, and chess."

She had to think about which she wanted to play. Once she decided there was no changing her mind. Cybertron-opoly could take a long time to finish, so unless they could leave the board game laying somewhere safe, there was little point in starting a game. Snakes and Ladders was new, so that would be extremely fun, but she didn't know how long it could take.

"Snakes and Ladders!" Ravage finally exclaimed not far from the Constructicon bay. "What are you making next?"

"I don't know yet what will be next. We'll have to figure out something for as many of us to play as possible." He rubbed the seam joining her head to her neck affectionately as they paused outside the med bay door. "Are you coming in this time?"

"Yeah. The 'Structies don't mind me. I just can't get in the way."

As they entered, Hook exclaimed "finally!" as he threw his hands in the air. "You would think you'd come here right after battle!"

"Megatron ordered me to the throne room," Thundercracker shrugged. "Extra duties and shifts and less energon."

"I'm just glad that you cut down on the number of major repairs we had to make."

"That's probably why I wasn't slagged for what I did. Less materials used for repairs, the less he has to request from Shockwave or acquire from somewhere."

The perfectionist grinned. "Hey Ravage. Played any new games here recently?"

"We were going to play the new one later, Hook. Did Scrapper or Scavenger want to play chess with me while you repair Thundercracker?"

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his helm. "They were injured the other day and are still repairing."

She grinned at the green and purple mech. "That means that they want some "alone time" and that you're all going to renew your bond soon."

"Of course." The medic turned to regard Thundercracker. "When was the last time your Trine renewed theirs?"

"They're supposed to be renewed?" he asked blankly. "How does that happen?"

Hook lifted an optic ridge. "When did you three last interface?"

The blue Seeker thought for a long moment. "When we were halfway here on the Nemesis. Would that be why they periodically ask me to join them?"

_And that would be why the Command Trine is so dysfunctional,_ the Constructicon thought. "That is probably the reason, yes. Did your Carrier or Creator never tell you?"

"No. They were never around to and I was never allowed to ask questions anyway. I had one that I asked out loud to Carrier. It was the last."

"What was the question?"

"Why were so many different mechs coming in and making noises before leaving and giving her something."

The two other occupants of the med bay stopped what they were doing in shock. "Your Carrier was a pleasure bot?"

"Yeah. Starscream and Skywarp were from the Elites of Vos. They were horrified to learn that. Apparently I give off the vibes of an Elite," Thundercracker explained while Hook returned to his repairs.

"It is possible for your Creator to have been an Elite," Hook said after a moment.

"You don't have to placate me, Hook," Thundercracker said with a wry smile. "I've always been an anomaly. My Carrier interfaced with a bot right after finding out she had sparked and my spark was not terminated."

"You survived that?"

The Seeker just looked at him. His spark had to be extremely strong and resilient to have withstood that. Knowing how long ago the Trine's last bonding was also gave voice to that fact considering how much they were still affected by each other.

"Have you ever considered breaking the bond?"

"No. I do know what happens to Trines that decide to and don't have at least one suitable replacement. That is one thing that they made sure I learned."

Hook looked thoughtful. "If they're as involved with each other as I think they are, then they'll be fine if you break your side off. The problem would be finding you a mech to balance you as you look for a third."

"I've looked as if I weren't in a Trine, but none of the fliers anywhere we've been have appealed. Ground-based mechs have always drawn me more, but most don't understand a Trinebond." He shrugged. "It's a vicious cycle."

"Well. I've done everything I can for the laser burns. The rest will be fixed by your self-repair. You know you're always welcome here. And who's to say that a Trine can't be made out of a flier or two with one or two grounders as the situation calls for it?"

"Thanks Hook," Thundercracker said with a smile. "But that would be hard. Most of the appealing ones are Autobots."

Once out of the med bay Ravage turned to the flier. "Can we play Snakes and Ladders in the control room?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Satisfied Fascination: Chapter Two**_

_**Thundercracker x Soundwave x Sunstreaker**_

**Characters:** Starscream, Thundercracker, Ravage, Soundwave, Vortex, Drag Strip, Rumble, Frenzy, mentions of Skywarp and Megatron

**Rating: **T - language

**Words: **1,777

**Summary: **Thundercracker finds himself in a bad position and gets help getting out, but needs a third - and one that his second approves of.

**Author's Notes: **Soundwave is OOC. Editing was done by yours truly and it would be greatly appreciated if anything that is incorrect or any mistakes are brought to my attention. I'm always looking for ways to better my writing. Thanks.

_Thoughts_

* * *

><p>They had just begun their third game of Snakes and Ladders when Starscream stormed into the control center, his face a mask of annoyance. There was something about his attitude that automatically made Thundercracker unconsciously tense in a sense of foreboding. After the talk with Hook, he could see his Trinemates breaking his bond to them and allowing him to wither away into deactivation. He looked at Ravage apprehensively and received a short nod in return. Soundwave would be listening in from a short distance away.<p>

His Trineleader frowned upon not seeing the blue jet at the monitors and Thundercracker spoke up so that he could return to what he was doing. "Sir, was there something you needed?"

"Your slagging report from the battle, Thundercracker. I swear I have to get after you for refusing to turn one in more than I do Skywarp."

The level-headed Seeker sighed softly. He had left one on the red Seeker's desk, but something normally happened to it so he had learned to have several copies. "I have one written up. It's sitting on the desk in the corner."

Starscream sniffed disdainfully. Leave it to the low-born mech to not greet his Trineleader properly. He didn't particularly care that it was his job as Trineleader to instruct the mechs under his command in everything concerning Trine matters, having expected to choose his own Trine, but Megatron had ordered the blue jet onto the team and Starscream could not refuse. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the mech much longer. A new third was on his way to Earth from Cybertron at that point in time and would arrive within the next few of Earth's rotations.

"And get back to your _duty_!" he snarled, snatching the data pad from its place on the desk and stalking from the room in another fit of anger.

Thundercracker shrugged, turning back to the panther cassette. "So where were we?"

The cat sighed. "Soundwave needs to talk to you and I think I need to find the twins. They feel like they're getting into something. Can we finish at another time?"

"Of course, sweetspark. I'll see you later."

After she left, the telepath entered the room as Thundercracker cleaned up the game and slipped it into subspace. "I don't believe it will be a surprise to you that Starscream and Skywarp are going to break the Trinebond," Soundwave said, dropping his monotone for the duration of their conversation for his own comfort. "You will require someone to balance you while you look for a third. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Yes. Most of them are Autobots though. Somehow I doubt that switching sides this late in the war is going to go over well with them no matter if I never deactivated any of their faction, so it seems that I am not going to live through the breaking of the bond." He shrugged fatalistically. The only Decepticon that he had considered as a potential Trinemate was not likely to want to bond with him, so he had no choice but to accept his future deactivation.

"Query: no Decepticons viable?"  
>"One. That's it. I've looked them all over several times, but gestalts already have their own bond and most everyone else just doesn't fit."<p>

His seat at the bank of monitors was extremely uncomfortable and he truly didn't want to, but it was best to have a conversation while sitting. He found himself adopting his normal position for sitting in that particular chair, his back struts ramrod straight and his wings upright and proud, unconsciously displaying himself better to a potential partner as his Carrier had never told him anything because she hadn't known to begin with. Of everything that bothered him the most about the Nemesis, this particular seat ranked second only to his doubts on the path the Cause had taken. That had to say something about how often he had duty there. After only a breem or two his wings began to cramp and twitch against his back in pain.

Soundwave sat thoughtfully for a moment. "They would accept you for any information you gave them though you would most likely be kept under surveillance. Integration would progress better if you had a constant supply of information to feed them about attack plans and what is happening on Cybertron."

"I don't think I have that long if Starscream and Skywarp have already chosen a replacement. He can't be far away if Starscream's thinking about it either. I'll just have to deal with the fallout from Megatron since I doubt they'll just take me in if I walk up to the Ark."

"Do I really need to spell my intentions out for you, Thundercracker?" Soundwave asked, exasperation coloring his deep voice. "I've enjoyed your company since we first met and have been impressed by your loyalty to the Cause even as you don't believe in the leader any longer. You're a stunningly built mech which is only accented by how you hold yourself. What I consider the best quality that you have is, by far, that you treat my creations like true mechs or femmes and not as drones along with going out of your way to make them happy. Even if this had not occurred, I would have tried to pursue a relationship with you."

The jet sat there, thunderstruck, for several long moments. Would it work between them? Could Thundercracker go through with bonding to his only friend on the ship only to leave and join the other faction?

"You do know that the relationship would, of necessity, be a little out of order? Bonding would take precedence and then the actual relationship would be able to happen, but with a twist."

"I am well aware of the consequences of such actions. No decision is made without considering the ramifications since I have the younglings to think of." The tape deck looked closely at his companion. "Maybe a few joors to consider my proposition would help? I am required off base for a short mission soon."

"That would be a great help," Thundercracker muttered thoughtfully. "If the cassettes want to drop by then they're welcome to. In fact, I really like for them to.

By the time the telepath had left the room, he was deep in thought mulling over the pros and cons of accepting the offer. He had never considered the mech as a possible Trinemate – probably because they were such good friends and he didn't want to ruin it – and was finding that he would actually be a very stable force to rely on in a bond. He felt deeply about many different subjects, but made sure to take time out of his day to spend with his creations for fun. There would be few spikes of overpowering emotions flooding the hypothetical bond – something that the jet was already grateful for as a friend since in his current Trinebond both of the other mechs had been ruled more often by emotions than logic. He had been relied upon to be that stabilizing force for them when he was unsuitable for the task, having sharp spikes of different emotions fairly often.

Soundwave's offer was a good one for a number of other reasons. First on his list was that they were already close friends and relied on each other emotionally to some degree. One of the other things in his favor was the relationship between the cassettes and Thundercracker. Before he made a decision though he felt like he needed to ask the younglings what they thought of the idea. If they were against it in any way that would greatly sway his answer to the negative. They were more important in the grand scheme of things.

Ravage padded into the control room a short while later, her duties for the day done. She jumped up onto the bank of monitors and lay down across the top of them, tail flicking where it fell in front of one of the screens. "Boss-bot said that you wanted to talk."

He grinned at her distractedly as he focused on one of the screens showing the twin cassettes backed into a corner. The area was familiar. "Can you tell Soundwave that the twins are going to be beat up?"

"He's off-base right now scouting for Megatron."

"Slag!" Thundercracker cursed before running out of the room calling over his shoulder for her to watch for anything unusual. What he wouldn't give for Skywarp's ability to teleport. Thankfully the hall they were on wasn't far from the command center and he made it there in good time, wishing the entire way that he was faster as it seemed to take him longer to get there than normal.

It was rare for any gestalt mechs to willingly spend time with another mech from a different combiner team, but it seemed that Drag Strip and Vortex had joined up to slag the twins. What they had done, if anything, he didn't know and didn't particularly care to, but he did know that they shouldn't be picked on by mechs able to dwarf them. At least that was what his conscience – something that few other Decepticons possessed – was telling him.

"Hey. Fraggers. Pick on someone your own size. I'm harder to beat." It didn't particularly matter what was said to Vortex. He lived to beat the slag out of other mechs. Drag Strip on the other hand responded better to someone challenging him.

Thundercracker jerked his helm sharply in a signal, telling the twin cassettes to get out of there. Hopefully Ravage called them into the control room so that he could see to them and be sure they weren't harmed. _Of course,_ he thought, _that's only if I don't get myself slagged._ Taking on those two at the same time was not exactly the best way to live to the next day, though he was grateful that Wildrider wasn't there.

Rumble and Frenzy in the meantime headed to the control room in a rather subdued mood. They felt bad leaving the blue jet to take on those two particular mechs by himself since they _liked_ Thundercracker, which only made it worse. The panther twitched her tail in irritation as they entered the room. After a few minutes of silence, Frenzy cracked.

"We're sorry, Rav! We didn't know they were there! Promise!"

"Apologize to Thundercracker and Soundwave," she said, irritated that they were so clueless every once in a while, especially as this was rather important to all of them.

They looked at each other in confusion before turning back to the cat. "Why Soundwave?"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Satisfied Fascination: Chapter Three**_

_**Thundercracker x Soundwave x Sunstreaker**_

**Characters:** Soundwave, Thundercracker, the cassettes, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe

**Rating: **M - sparkbonding

**Words:** 1926

**Summary: **Thundercracker finds himself in a bad position and gets help getting out, but needs a third - and one that his second approves of.

**Author's Notes: **Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I'm working during the summer, so updates will be slow and the soonest will probably not be until about two weeks from now at the earliest. Memorial Day weekend…. Recovery…. And then another weekend and the specials start the week after. I may have butchered Soundwave's voice/speech pattern too.

_Thoughts_

* * *

><p>Soundwave returned to the control center as soon as he was back in the Nemesis. He had waited impatiently for the appropriate time to return to the ship to find out what the answer to his proposition was. His hope was that the Seeker answered with an affirmative, but there was not one to normally show interest in others and kept his thoughts well guarded.<p>

The sight that greeted him was not something he had expected. The parts of Thundercracker's wings he was able to see were littered with scrapes and tears along with a number of dents – one of which was suspiciously hand-shaped. Three of his cassettes were in the room, sprawled on the floor and happily playing their newest board game under the jet's watchful gaze.

"Query: cause of damage?"

At the tape deck's monotone voice, all four of the room's occupants turned to look at him. He had not lowered the blocks on his bonds to the cassettes when he had returned to the ship so they had no warning of his arrival. It was a normal procedure that none of them thought much about any longer though it still brought a pain to their spark to not feel each other for any length of time. Ravage and the twins hurried over in an enthusiastic greeting, purring and hugging him as they checked him over for injuries that he did not have.

Thundercracker nodded his helm in his own version of a greeting, waiting until the third-in-command asked him another question or until it was just the two of them alone so he would be able to speak freely to the other mech. The cassettes, who had all been by at some point, did not need to be present for their discussion though they knew what was to be said. Thankfully it did not take long to clear the room of the younglings and Soundwave strode over to him to run a hand lightly over the undamaged plating on his wings to assess the damage to the rest of the plating.

"To answer your earlier question," the jet began, leaning into the light touch as it was comforting and soothing on his sensors. "I had a fight with Vortex and Drag Strip. They had decided that Rumble and Frenzy would be good targets."

Dropping his monotone and speech pattern since he was in trusted company, he asked, "Have you seen the damage to your frame?"

"Rumble said it wasn't pretty." Thundercracker shrugged as well as he could without hurting himself more. "I think he phrased it as 'Slag, Thunder! Ya look like ya got hit by a train!' I don't really want to know what my wings look like, honestly. That was their main target and I can feel well enough when I'm not really flight-worthy."

"How did Vortex and Drag Strip fair?"

He leaned back into the petting that Soundwave's assessment had turned into before answering. "Drag Strip is bemoaning his paint job down and his rather spectacular loss down with the Constructicons in Hook's domain. Vortex, I believe, is getting himself off before the gestalt leader drags him down for repairs. I am stuck here for the foreseeable future since, by decree of Starscream and Megatron, Hook cannot repair me and I have even more monitor duty."

"Some of this is bad. You really need a medic."

"You haven't seen the rest of me. I need a really good medic and my joints have locked up for the most part. Too much dried fluid clogging the gears. They tried getting into the room to get the cassettes, so I got more damage on top of the original."

Soundwave stroked up the sides of the jet's vents carefully. "I think you need to get off base if they're willing to challenge you so openly. It is possible for me to get the Autobot medic a message if you would be willing to go."

"Get him one to meet us at a set of coordinates and tell him that he can bring a couple of other bots with him. Hopefully, he will feel more comfortable that way. It might also would be a good idea to send him a list of my injuries considering the extent of them."

"While my cassettes gather your possessions and a few other things that may serve you well, would you mind answering whether you would accept me into a Trine bond?" Soundwave asked, telling the six younglings to do just that over the bond he shared with them.

"That was part of the reason I wanted to speak to the younglings. They're almost your entire life and I didn't want them having doubts about me or _us_."

It took a few moments for the implications of that statement to filter through. Thundercracker grinned up at the navy mech's mask and visor, seeing the red brighten in realization and happiness as it clicked.

"Now?"

"It would be for the best since I'm pretty sure the Autobots would like you on their ship for any purpose other than being their prisoner. It does take longer for a bond to settle over distance though. Will that affect you enough for Megatron or Starscream to notice?"

His concern for the tape deck's well-being gave the navy mech a pleasantly warm feeling around his spark. "We'll just have to make it work."

"Do you know how to go about breaking the bond?"

"Hook said that the main thing was intent and a bot outside of the bond already established." He vented softly. "This is a spark bond. Would you rather move to a safer and more private area?"

Thundercracker shook his helm. "It doesn't matter to me. The less your little ones know about that at this point in time would be better I believe though. Here is probably the better option. Of course, this room does also control the entire ship." His smile was full of mischief as he looked at his soon-to-be bondmate. Soundwave wasn't overly amused because of the severity of the situation they found themselves in.

"Will you be able to merge?"

As the jet's cockpit parted and folded in on itself, the injuries having missed vital circuitry, he grinned, partially in pain and partially at being able to surprise the mech that seemed to know everything. A lightly golden-hued light shone through the room from his spark and he had to smile at Soundwave's expression. Very few possessed such a spark color. Of course, not many mechs or femmes were created by an Elite of Vos and a grounder, even if Seeker-kin as his Carrier had been. The Elites were held to a much higher standard. He could say that very few Seekers were sparked from such a pairing, since most had the coding to be a Seeker, but were forced into a grounder frame. They soon deactivated themselves after receiving their adult upgrades for the most part since they were unable to feel enough to be tricked into thinking they were flying. The longest lived one he knew of had self-deactivated after a vorn.

Soundwave walked around the chair slowly, taking in the sight of the Seeker spread out before him, though the picture was marred by how injured he was. The tape deck transformed his chestplates away from his spark to reveal a double-beat spark – one that pulsed twice as fast as a normal spark – that cast the Seeker's faceplates in red.

They inched together slowly; tendrils were reaching out from their individual sparks to connect their sparks in preparation for a spark bond splitting the blue Seeker from his bonded Trine. As the two glowing orbs finally touched, the two mechs crashed into each toher, Thundercracker's wounds breaking open again from his hipplates up. He hissed in discomfort, but all sensation outside of the spark merge quickly fell to the wayside. Soundwave slowly explored the mech he was sharing his spark with, from his earliest memories to his perceptions of recent events. In turn, the jet did the same, finding out more about the tape deck than his previous Trinemates have ever revealed to him. While still merged with the navy mech, Thundercracker turned his attention to his own spark and, purposefully, cut out the part holding his connections to Skywarp and Starscream.

He jerked hard from the backlash, breaking open more of the partially sealed energon and coolant lines that had been damaged and almost severing spark contact with Soundwave. If the other mech hadn't moved with his thrashing as best as possible, there may have been irreparable damage done to both of their sparks. As the searing pain Thundercracker was feeling started filtering through to the tape deck, he pulled back slightly, beginning to disengage his spark from the jet. Some of the ache was beginning to settle into his frame and he had a phantom feeling of wounded wings he clearly did not have.

A small whimper echoed through his spark as they finally disengaged from the spark merge. "I know, Thundercracker," he murmured, inspecting the jet again with a bit of insight being provided by their newly fledged bond. Over his bond to his creations, he asked Laserbeak to bring a couple of the high quality energon cubes he kept in his room to the control room. The shorted rations had severely hampered the Seeker's self-repair and, as it was, he was running almost on fumes.

Not long after the cassettes arrived, he sent a transmission to the Autobot med bay, bypassing all attempts to stop the message from reaching its destination. All he had to do was hope for the medic's need to repair mechs extending to Decepticons. Of course, that was provided he was able to keep his bondmate from deactivating. All he would be able to do was a quick patch job before having to leave for the coordinates he had sent to the Autobots.

* * *

><p>Ratchet stared in shock at the image captures displayed on one of his monitors. No mech should have that done to them. He was able to snap out of his horror when the doors to his med bay whisked open.<p>

"Hey Ratch!" Wheeljack greeted the medic cheerfully. "What ya got there? Another medical manuscript or study?"

"No, 'Jack. I need to get to these coordinates. Thundercracker will deactivate within the next couple of joors if I don't go and that will take his bondmate and six younglings with him."

The speed at which the medic gathered supplies boggled the inventor's processor which was already confused as to what was happening. Deciding that the easiest way to solve the mystery was to investigate, he looked over at the monitor and skimmed its contents. Meanwhile, Ratchet left the med bay, barreling down the hallways and transformed as soon as he made it outside the Ark, spraying dirt and gravel as he was already in high gear as he took off.

"Hold up, Ratchet!" Wheeljack yelled, chasing after the mech. "I'm comin' too!"

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe caught the end of the tableau, but decided that if those two mechs were racing that fast to a particular place something was wrong. Two Lamborghinis were quick to follow in their wake.

Up in the command center, Jazz watched the four forms in interest but didn't think much of it having only seen the shapes of four mechs and not who they were. He wouldn't be surprised if they were racing and wished he could be doing that instead of stuck on comms and security monitor duty.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Satisfied Fascination: Chapter Four**_

_**Thundercracker x Soundwave x Sunstreaker**_

**Characters:** Soundwave, Thundercracker, the cassettes, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Optimus, Prowl

**Rating: **T – because I'm paranoid

**Words:** 2308

**Summary: **Thundercracker finds himself in a bad position and gets help getting out, but needs a third - and one that his second approves of.

**Author's Notes: **Sorry about the length between updates. I haven't had time to write here recently and I've been drawing a bit of a blank on what to write in any case. Try and bear with me, please?

* * *

><p><em>Thoughts<em>

* * *

><p>Upon arrival to the coordinates set for the meeting place, Soundwave bent and carefully laid the Seeker on the ground in the middle of the canyon as comfortably as he was able. The cassettes were soon sent out to watch for the medic and to make sure they had not been followed by any Decepticons. It could turn into a huge mess if they had been – especially since they were meeting Autobots. With Thundercracker as comfortable as he could make him with his joints frozen in place from dried energon and other vital fluids, he settled down to wait. He ran a soothing hand over as much undamaged metal as possible while his bondmate's helm rested in his lap. Ravage was laying next to the injured frame of the blue jet in a very relaxed but wary manner that reminded him of the human's Sphinx. On the other hand, it was surprising as Pit that Rumble was glancing over every few kliks with worry touching the bond he shared with the little mech.<p>

Their wait was thankfully not very long, the medic pulling up along with three other mechs. His sudden fit of cursing startled the Decepticon Third-in-Command who flinched, jolting Thundercracker just enough to bring him online in a daze.

"'Wave?" he muttered lowly, optics on-lining very dimly. "The younglings alright?"

The Autobots were treated to the sight of a very concerned Soundwave along with one not wearing his Decepticon persona. "They're fine, Thunder. Rumble's worried about you. So's the rest of us," he murmured soothingly to the jet. "The Autobot medic is here." A gentle hand traced the lighter blue mech's faceplates.

In the meantime, Ratchet had pulled out his med kit and started work on injuries still leaking vital fluids. "Get over here, 'Jack," he growled. "You know the basics. For that matter," the medic said, glancing up. "You two know basic field repair." As the twins did not move right away, he shouted, "Well? What are you waitin' for – an invitation?" His hands had continued moving while he had glared at the frontliners so they would follow his orders. "Soundwave," he snapped, turning back to his work. "What's the damage from?"

"Perpetrators: Vortex and Drag Strip. Occurences: two. Megatron: orders for Hook to ignore damage. Hook: protects team."

"And just why did you send _me_ a message?"

"Thundercracker: wishes to defect. Soundwave: will provide information."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker glared at him distrustfully as Ratchet and Wheeljack looked hopeful. That was extremely unexpected news, but not totally unwelcome and the twins found it rather suspicious.

"So you're defecting, but staying to provide information kind of like an infiltrator, through Thundercracker, to the Autobots?" Wheeljack asked. "He's got to be special to ya."

"Thundercracker: Soundwave's new bondmate." He waited for the sudden surprise to die down a bit before explaining. "Soundwave: stabilizes Thundercracker. Seeker: requires Trine. Thundercracker: needs third bondmate to complete, but is stable for now." He stroked the Seeker's faceplates again softly, Ravage by his side. Leaving his newly bonded mate would be one of the hardest things he had ever done, but he was willing to do so for the mech he was holding who was looking up at him out of dim optics that could barely register who he was except for the bond they now shared.

"Thought he was Trine to Starscream and Skywarp," Sideswipe muttered, backing off from the jet's frame, his hands coated in energon and coolant. The lines were patched in the area he had worked though.

"Bond: broken. Thundercracker: forming new Trine."

"I want to visit," the panther said. "Thunder keeps the games in subspace and we play them almost every cycle."

The tape deck ran a soothing hand down her back. "Ask him for one the next time you see him."

"I guess I can get Scrapper and Scavenger to play chess with me pretty often, but Thunder's got Snakes and Ladders, Sorry, and Clue."

"And," Frenzy piped up. "He hasn't decided on the next one to make and now we can't tell him which two we came up with."

"I need to get him loaded and to the med bay. Tell 'Jack the games, he'll tell the Seeker. He'll need to get parts somehow." Ratchet turned to the Twins. "You know how to load a mech carefully. Do it." He transformed, his back hatch opening so that the blue jet could be loaded for the drive back to the Autobot base.

The cassettes gathered close to Soundwave where he still knelt on the ground and were enclosed in his arms as well as possible, his two birds on his shoulders and Ratbat on his helm, trying to comfort and support him just as he was trying to do the same for them. Thundercracker had to go for his own well-being, but he wished to keep the jet close. He just knew that there could be so much done by having someone to pass information through so that the war could finally end. That was the only reason he was not demanding to go with his bondmate or Ratchet repair him here so that he could return with the jet. Having been friends with the Seeker for so long had changed his perceptions of the war and of his leader, merging just gave him even more insight into what the mech thought and felt.

A faint pulse of affection from his spark caused him to smile and the younglings to jump in surprise. "Dude! Did ya _feel_ that?" "Oh wow…." "Yay!" He had to smile had at their reactions to feeling his mate through their sparks. Even in his almost offline state he still worried about them.

* * *

><p>As the mech was laid out on one of the med bay berths, Ratchet was snapping at the twins and inventor. "'Jack, go get Prime and Prowl. Sideswipe, stay out of the way. Sunstreaker, get me-" he rattled off a long list of parts and tools. They needed more flight-capable mechs and Thundercracker was one of the best they could possibly get and was the least hated of the Decepticon fliers. As I was, his presence on the Ark would already be hard to explain ad that was disregarding the fact that he would be using so many parts on him. Red Alert and Prowl would be sure to have a field day with that.<p>

As there was so much damage to his frame, he decided that he might as well do a full scan of all his systems and check his spark for any abnormalities. While he was doing so, he would be able to verify whether Soundwave was actually bonded to the Seeker or not. With the way the tape deck had been acting, he was pretty sure that they were bonded – how else would he be able to explain the totally out of character way he had acted? No one did such a 180 if they were not emotionally attached to the individual, but it had also started to become apparent in some of the last battles that Starscream and Skywarp were distancing themselves from the blue jet while he w as protecting the tape deck and his cassettes. Ratchet was just hoping that Prowl and Red Alert didn't glitch when they found out what – or who – he had in his repair bay.

"Hey Ratch! I got them. They'll be here soon."

"Thanks, 'Jack. Now get your aft over here and get to work."

The two highest ranked bots in the Autobot army were soon entering the med bay.

"You called, Ratchet?" Prime asked curiously.

"Yeah. I have a defector I'm working on. Take and seat and I'll be out shortly," the medic called. They obeyed since nobot ever disobeyed him in his own domain, Prowl taking a data pad from subspace and running through scenarios that could arise from having a defector in the ranks. True to his word, the medic was soon out in the main area of the bay to speak to them. The repairs had been easy, but there had been a multitude of them that would require a good amount of time to integrate fully into his systems.

"Who is defecting?"

"Well. That's an interesting answer. We have one bondmate here and the other returned to the 'Cons to send us intelligence."

"Who are the bondmates?" Prowl asked.

"We have Thundercracker here." From that, the two mechs assumed that one of his Trine would be sending them information. It was known in the Autobot ranks that those three were bonded. "Soundwave will be sending us information."

There was a long moment of silence in which Ratchet was watching Prowl closely for any sign of an impending crash. "_Soundwave?"_

* * *

><p>Thundercracker slowly came back online, aching in more places than he was comfortable. "'Wave?" he murmured in question, reaching out and through his newly formed bond to his mate. It took longer than his fogged processor expected, telling him that he was further away than he really wanted him to be. He got a light pulse of relief in return to his questing. That was enough for him to be comfortable where he was even if he recognized nothing as his optics lit up.<p>

"Soundwave isn't here."

He jerked, startled at the sudden voice. "I know. Can't feel him close."

"I'm sorry."

_Ratchet. That's who I can hear. They must have made it to the coordinates._ "So I'm in the Ark?" He looked around as much as he was able. "Well, there sure isn't any blending in for me here. That color clashes horribly with my blue."

The medic laughed. "That's for sure. Yes, this is the Ark. Specifically, the med bay. As of right now, your repairs have to integrate fully into your systems, so you're stuck here. The Twins almost feel sorry for you."

"I don't see why. All I want to do right now is recharge, get clean, and have some energon, if possible, and not necessarily in that order."

"You're stuck here until I clear you medically, then you'll move to a room prepared for you."

The jet shrugged as well as he could. "That's fine. Is there any way I could get a data pad? Preferably one that you don't use for typing."

"I'll see what I can do. So. I have a cube for you and the racks that we use here are over in that corner of the med bay."

He slowly sat up with a bit of help and reached for the cube. His systems were starving for the energon and wanted it quickly, but he had been through this too many times to heed that instinct and kept himself to slow sips. Whatever was in this, he really enjoyed it – and it wasn't just because it was of a better quality than he was used to.

"Well. You're one of my best patients on this ship. Most of the idiots chug it down. I hate cleaning that up."

"You learn fast on short rations," Thundercracker said, flexing his wings in a test before twitching them in a thank you.

"That I can believe," the medic muttered drily. "What's not as believable is that you and _Soundwave_ are Trinemates."

"It's a very recent development. Starscream and Skywarp have a third on the way from Cybertron and I would deactivate without at least one bond."

"But why Soundwave?"

"We're friends and he offered to stabilize me until I can find a third." He shrugged. "We may not love each other right now, but the potential to is there."

* * *

><p>"Hey Ratch! I got some parts that you asked me for."<p>

One of the large boxes Wheeljack was carrying wobbled unsteadily, threatening to fall and spill its contents all over the med bay floor. The Seeker grabbed it carefully and set it on a nearby berth, his arms shaking with the strain on his still-integrating repairs. His wings twitched in annoyance. He still had another Earth week left before his self-repairs finished that task and he was restless. Ratchet had yet to acquire a data pad for him, so there was little he could do as he wasn't allowed to be seen by the Autobots at large yet.

"Thanks TC!"

"You're welcome, Wheeljack. Ratchet just left to get some energon and speak to Prime. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"The better question is if I can help you with anything. Rumble and Frenzy told me that they want either Dominoes or Scrabble next. What do they mean by that?" the inventor asked, setting the rest of the boxes down next to the other.

"They're human games. Most of the ones I make are board games such as Clue, Sorry, and Snakes and Ladders. The younglings and I play fairly often."

The Lancia looked interested. "Can I see them?"

"Sure," Thundercracker replied, reaching to pull all of the games in his subspace out. "I have, as I said, Clue, Sorry, and Snakes and Ladders, but I also have Cybertron-opoly and chess. Dead End has a chessboard, Wildrider and Drag Strip have Sorry and I left them Snakes and Ladders, and the Constructicons have one of each though their favorites are chess and Cybertron-opoly."

Wheeljack was awed by the craftsmanship that went into the games. The pieces themselves had to be carved and painted, the boards had been crafted to lay flat with hinges at the folds and were intricately painted, and there were a million other details – especially for Cybertron-opoly. He was a master at his chosen art; there was no doubt about that. The humans had tried to show them how to play, and most of them enjoyed watching, but upsizing the games hadn't worked very well. Cardboard didn't hold up well, but these were _metal._

"Prowl's always wanted to learn chess."


End file.
